Joe Cole urges Arsenal to sign PSG star and sell £34m midfielder

Joe Cole has urged Arsenal to sign an attacking player from PSG this summer and believes the Gunners will sell club captain Martin Odegaard.

This has been by far Odegaard’s least influential season since his £34m move to Arsenal in 2021, with the 27-year-old starting just 13 league games.

Odegaard’s struggled can mainly be blamed on reoccurring injury setbacks but he has also often flattered to deceive when featuring, scoring just one goal in all competitions.

His Norway boss Stale Solbakken has revealed Odegaard is ‘very frustrated and grumpy’ as injuries continue to plague his season and it has been suggested that this could even be his last season at the Emirates Stadium.

Odegaard has been one of Arsenal’s most influential players since his move from Real Madrid and Mikel Arteta handed him the captain’s armband ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

Reports say Arteta remains supportive of Odegaard and believes he will once again be a key player once his current injury issues are behind him.

But ex-England star Cole has tipped Arsenal to sell Odegaard this summer following the breakthrough of 16-year-old midfielder Max Dowman.

Arsenal’s main focus in the summer transfer window will be bolstering Arteta’s squad, which is on course to win the club’s first Premier League title in 22 years.

A new left-winger looks set to be one of the priority positions for Arsenal and Cole says has talked up a stunning move for PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Kvaratskhelia, rated as one of the most exciting and direct players in Europe, has been tentatively linked with a move to the Premier League in recent weeks.

‘The way Arsenal as a club are set up now, they’re on the cusp of it [a successful period],’ Cole said on The Dressing Room podcast.

‘If they win one trophy they might really kick on… even already if you look at what their planning for next year, you hear they’re talking about trying to sign Kvaratskhelia from PSG. Imagine putting him in this Arsenal team.

‘Then you look at it and think, Man City have got to go again [in the transfer window], you can forget about Chelsea at the moment because we’re not there and Aston Villa aren’t at that level.

‘The only problem Arsenal might have is when the contracts are up because I’m looking at a few of those boys and they will want top dollar.

‘Declan [Rice], Gabriel, Saliba… they will all want Real Madrid money. I think they might let Martin Odegaard go but they have the luxury to do that now.

‘They’ve got Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri coming through so you can cash in on some players.’

Arsenal scuppered their first chance for some silverware this season, losing 2-0 to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.

But Arteta’s side are in the driving seat to win the Premier League and will turn their attentions to quarter-final matches in both the Champions League and FA Cup following the international break.

The Gunners face Portuguese giants Sporting for a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League after a FA Cup tie with Championship side Southampton.

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